Improvement in automatic telegraphs



. z'sheets-sheet 1. H l 1- T. A. EDISON. i f Automatic-Telegraph.

No. 213,554. Patented Mar. 25,1879.-

N. PETERS, PHOTO-UYHMRPHER, WASHI'NGTON D C- 2 sheets-sheet 2.,-

T. A. EDISON. Automatic-Telegraph.

No. 213,554. Patented Mar. 25, 1879.-

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".PFTERS, PHDTOIJTHOGRAFMER| WASHINGYDN, D C4 '[.Tlvrrnl)` Shia/ urnsPATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS A. EDISON, OF MENLO PARK, NEVtT JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN AUTOMATIC TELEGRAPHS.

Speccation forming part of Letters Patent No. 213,554, dated March 25,1879 application filed March 26, 1877.

To all whom itmay concern:

Be it known that I, Tuoi/ms A. EDrsoN, of Menlo Park, in the county ofMiddlesex and State of New Jersey, have invented an Improvement inTelegraphs, of which the following is a specication:

The object of this invention is to indent upon a sheet of paper thecharacters received from a distant station, or the characterstransmitted from the same station, and to use such sheet of paper totransmit the samemessage, thus providing an automatic device fortransmittin g the same message more than once from one station to.different stations, and for retransmitting the message automaticallywhere it has to pass through several offices to reach its destination.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan of the instrument. Fig. 2 is a sideview with the indenting-plate in section; and Fig.` 3 is a section ofpart of the indenting-plate and piu.

In chemical telegraphs a sheet of paper has been clamped to a disk, andthe stylus resting upon such paper has been moved gradually toward orfrom the center of the diskby a volute groove in the surface of the diskitself or in a separate plate.

I make use of a volute groove in a disk or plate; but the first part ofmy invention relates to the disk or plate with volute groove or channelin the under surface and the guiding-point below such plate, while thepoint that operates upon the paper is above that plate.

The disk or plate a is mounted upon the vertical shaft b, sustained bythe standard b and bed a. Any suitable motor is applied to revolve theshaft b and plate a.

I have shown an electric engine consisting of the shaft c, armature c',stationary magnets d, governor-balls e, circuit breaker or'commutator f,and lever-arm g, operated upon by the governor to open or close thelocal circuit to the magnets d, according to the speed.V of the engine,and thereby obtain uniformity. This electric engine is similar to thatshown in my Patent No. 131,343.

The worm c' upon the shaft o serves to rotate the wheel h upon the shaftb, and there is a friction-clutch, d', and lever h', by means of whichthe wheel h is connected with or disconnected from the shaft b.

Upon the plate a. is a clamping-frame, c, preferably hinged at one side,2, and provided with a swinging catch, 3, at the other side. The paperto receive the message is laid upon this plate a, and held by the framec" around its edges.

There are to be guide-marks upon the paper and also upon the disk a., sothat the paper can be correctly positioned upon the disk in the rstinstance, and replaced absolutelycorrect when required. For this purposeit is preferable to perforate the paper at the center and at a pointcorresponding to the hole 5.

The volute groove 8 is upon the bottom of tle plate a, and in it is thepoint of the pin l, that is at the end of the arm m, and above the diska and paper is the marking-point '6 at the end of the arm n. These armsm and n are hinged to a stock, o, upon a vertical standard, o', andthere is a vertical pivot upon which the stock o and the lever-arms m nswing horizontally. The arms m n have :right-angled toes, as seen bydotted lines at 7 and 8, and the weight of the arm n is greater thanthat of m, and hence the point l is raised up into the volute groove,and the point 6 rests upon the paper. The lever u' acts to raise thepoint 6 o the paper by pressing the lever-arm m downwardly when it isdesired to move both points away from the paper.

The marking-point 6 is made toindent the paper by the action of theelectro-magnet r and its armature-lever r', and thereby produce Morse orother characters by pressing the paper down into the groove et of thedisk a, and this electro-magnet r is either in the main line or (bypreference) in a local circuit.

In Fig. 2 these circuit connections are illus. trated. The relay-magnetR operates by its armature the local circuit to the electro-mag net r,and in this is placed the sounder s.

The operator at the receiving-station closes the switch H of his key K,and the sending operator opens his switch.

When the instrument is employed to transA late or repeat the messageinto another circuit the delicate insulated spring circuit-closer r,tracing-point 12, and contact-point 13 are made use of, and these areplaced in the circuiti-nto which the message is to be sent in order thatthe tracer 12 may lift the spring e and break the circuit when restingon the portion of paper that is not indented, and when the indentedportion is beneath said point the spring closes the contact at 13, andthe message is sent to the distant station.

The arrangement of circuits shown in Fig. 2 is convenient. In this themovement of the switch H to the dotted positions causes the main-linecircuit to pass through the insulated spring circuit-closer r. point 13,arm n, so that the indented paper will give motion to the circuit-closerand transmit the message previously recorded.

The spring 13 rests upon the paper, and the circuit-closing spring e,carrying the point 12, has also the screw 15 to close the circuit uponthe spring 13 when the indentation passes below the point 12. This screw16 requires to be adjusted to suit the condition of the paper or of theindentations. I therefore provide a T-head to the screw, and a turner,16, above it, which passes through the arm n, so that the adjustment canbe made while the instrument is at work, the said turner being insulatedand having a notch for the T-head of the screw, as shown in Fig. 4.

There may be two disks arranged to receive their lnotion from the primemover, each having a friction-clutch that is operated by a double lever,h', whereby one disk is disconnected and stopped simultaneously, or justafter the other disk is pnt into motion, so that when olle paper is fullits disk may 'ne stopped just after the other is started, so as not todrop any signals, and the paper that is full is removed and anotherpaper substituted. The same devices are available either in receiving orin sending messages.

In the diagram, Fig. 5, the connections for this purpose are shown, andthe lever h' closes the circuit tllrough the spring circuit-closer r andcontact-point 13 in the act of shifting the power from one of the disksto the other.

It will generally' be preferable to make the volute grooves in square oroblong plates, so as to receive ordinary square or oblong sheets ofpaper. These can be more easily tiled away for future reference, andcontain the dates and facts desired upon the face ot' the paper, in theangles thereof. Fig. (i shows one ot' these square blanks. The messagecan bc read upon these blanks, or it can be repeated aty any time.

In place of having only one contact spring and point, it may bepreferable to have three, placed side by side and close together, so asto allow for any inaccuracy in the position of the paper, or that mayresult from expansion or contraction of the paper. Either one of thesepoints passing into the indentation in the paper will close the circuitand transmit the signal. The screw 16 allows the contactpoints to beadjusted to suit the paper that is 1n use.

Apuncturng or perforatingpointmight take the place of the indenting orembossing point.

It is obvious that many modifications may be ma-de to produce the sameresult. For instance, the electric engine may be replaced by aclock-work or other motor.

The arm u might be made to rotate instead of the plate a. The underneathspiral might be dispensed with, and the spiral on top of the plate mightbe continued out a greater distance from the center, and the addition alspiral used for giving an outward movement to the arm. The plate itselfmight be dispensed with, and a drum used, with grooves cut lengthwise,and the indeuting-magnet moved back and forward by suitable mechanism,the paper being fed from a continuous roll.

I am aware that it is not new to record telegraph-signals by iudentingor embossing paper, as that method is adopted by Morse. Neither is itnew to retransmit from such characters by causing them to give motion tocon tact mechanism, as that is shown in the English patent granted toWilliam Thomson and Fleming Jenkin August 25, 1860, No. 2,047, Suchembossing, however, was done on nar row strips of paper.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a telegraph in which the indented orembossed message is employed for transmitting electric pulsations, themeans, substantially as specitied, for recording the message in a voluteline upon a sheet of paper, and for following that line with thecircuit-breaking device in transmitting from such record, as set forth.

2. A plate provided with a volute groove upon its surface, and means forclamping a sheet of paper thereto, in combination with an indentin g orperforating point, and means for maintaining the proper position ot thepoint over the spiral groove, substantially as set forth.

3. A telegraphic blank of paper or similar material provided with one ormore perforations, in combination with the plate receiving the same, andhaving corresponding marks to insure accurate adjustment in the variousinachines, substantially as speciied.

4. The combination, with a spirally-grooved or volute plate, ot' an armand indenting and transmitting mechanism supported by such arm, and asecond similar groove for moving such arm, substantially as set forth.

5. In combination with a rest upon the paper, a point operated by theundulations of the surface of the paper and a circuit-closer andelectric circuit to a distant receiving-instrument, substantially as setforth.

6. The arms u and m, pivoted to the stock o,

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and turning upon a vertical pivot, incombistrument,electromagnet,andspirally-grooved nation with the plate a,containing a volutev plate,` of a sounder in the same circuit-as thegroove, substantially as speciled. indenting-magnet, substantially asset forth.

1 *f 7. In combination with two revolving platesy Signed by me this 3dday of February, A.

and. the indenting or transmitting mechanism D. 1877.

i connected. thereto, a clutch for connecting THOS. A. EDISON.

one plate before disconnecting the other, sub- Witnesses: stantially asand for the purposes set forth. GEO. T. PINGKNEY,

8. The combination, with anvindenting-in- CHAS. H. SMTH.

